A/N: This is a giftfic for Last Girl Standing, who requested some 'smut that starts angsty but ends with a post-sex cuddle' and who loves Sirius/Marlene. Alex, I hope you enjoy this!

The prompts I used are "Funnily enough, you'll find that I don't truly care!", "sexy" and "black bra and panties".

Sirius felt a lump in his throat as he watched Benjy fall. Immediately after that, rage took over. How dare they! He rushed in and began firing curses left and right. A small group of Order Members had been out on a mission to find out more about Voldemort's whereabouts, when all of a sudden they had run into a couple of Death Eaters. Benjy had been the first to take a blast to the stomach and as he fell, the Death Eaters near him laughed and fired some other curses at him.

Sirius hit the first one by surprise and out of the corners of his eyes he could see Marlene duelling another Death Eater. He set his jaw in determination as he sought to revenge his fellow Order member. True, he had never really known Benjy that well, but he fought for the same cause and that was enough.

Next thing he knew, he was knocked backwards and a searing pain started to spread through him. He writhed and convulsed as one of the Death Eaters laughingly fired Crucios at him. The pain! He had never felt such pain before in his life. It felt like he was being stabbed with a thousand needles while at the same time someone squeezed his heart till he had trouble breathing. It felt like his limps were slowly, agonisingly, torn from his body. He now knew how criminals must have felt in the Middle Ages when they were being quartered. The pain in his head was the worst though. The veins at his temples were throbbing dangerously, like they could burst any second and there was just so much pressure, like a migraine attack…

Then, all of a sudden, he felt the pressure and the pain subside a little and he greedily took in large gulps of air, while the moment lasted. The moment lasted longer than he had expected and he slowly opened his eyes. The bright light blinded him and did little for the throbbing in his head. He was just in time to turn before he threw up.

"Sirius? Are you okay?" a concerned voice asked. Marlene.

"I will be," he panted. "Just… just gimme… a minute…"

"We don't have a minute. We have to go now, before they awake again…"

It was only now that he took in the unusual quietness of the scene, where moments before there had been shouts and battle cries. He carefully looked around and noticed the Death Eaters paralysed but with a very, very angry and dangerous look in their eyes.

"Your doing? Nice work 'Lene," he praised her. The feeling in his limps slowly returned and he sat up. "What about Benjy?"

"There is no time Sirius! We really ought to go."

"I'm not leaving here without him!"

"There's nothing we can do for him anymore, he's dead! We really need to go, now!" Urgency had crept into her voice and he watched as one of the Death Eaters began to stir, indicating that the spell had almost worn off. But he would not be a Black if he weren't stubborn. He began to get up, a bit unsteady at first.

"We'll take him with us," he said.

Marlene shook her head, pleading. "Sirius…"

The Death Eater that had stirred was now moving, and others were getting back up as well. She grabbed hold of his arm and he felt the familiar pull behind the navel that indicated Apparition. Damnit. He didn't fight her off though; getting Splinched was the last thing he wanted.

-o0o-

"Damnit Marlene, what are you on about! How can you just Apparate us out of there and leave Benjy behind?!"

"He was already dead!" she shouted back. "I saw him fall, saw the lights go out in his eyes. He's dead Sirius! And it had come very close to you dying as well."

"Funnily enough, you'll find I don't truly care! I'm going back!"

"But I do!" she yelled, tears in her eyes.

Sirius froze in his tracks and slowly turned around. Ever since Marlene joined the Order, there had been a certain tension between them, that neither of them had dared act upon, afraid to disturb the balance of co-workers and friends. It had become a sort of unspoken agreement between them: neither would speak about it and then all would be fine. But now Marlene had breached their subtle truce. He stared at her and she stared back, daring him to defy her, to contradict her, to tell her she was being silly. But he didn't speak; he didn't really know how to handle the situation.

"I just saved your life," she said, calmer now. "Aren't you supposed to thank me, like a good damsel that was rescued from distress?"

He did not know where she had gotten the bravery from, but it appeared that with those two words, of admitting that she cared, her barriers had been brought down.

"I saved you, because I couldn't stand you dying, Sirius."

-o0o-

He took a step forward, and another one, and the next thing he knew, lips were on lips, hands were on backs, on shoulders, in hair, exploring each other greedily, needing…

She took off his shirt and he pulled off her robes, revealing the black bra and panties she was wearing underneath. Merlin, she was sexy! He unfastened her bra, pushed down the straps and kneaded her bare breast with his hands. She gasped at the touch. He knew his hands were cold and her nipples immediately reacted. Her nails raked over his back and he groaned. He sucked on her collarbone. She fumbled to unbuckle his belt and his trousers slid down his ankles. He shook them off, while he pushed her on the couch. He was so worked up, he needed her… Apparently, she needed him as much as he needed her, for she guided him to her entrance without much ado. He entered her in one push. Damn, she felt so good around his cock. He captured her mouth in his and they kissed, hungrily, while he thrust in her with quick movements. They got it on like animals, grazing and groping as if their life depended on it; as if the world could end any minute and there would never be a tomorrow again. And maybe there would never be tomorrow again, but that didn't mind, because it was just them, Sirius and Marlene, groaning, moaning, needing one another… He found his release with a low grunt and buried himself a little deeper inside her. He collapsed on top of her. They both lay panting for a couple of moments.

Then he kissed her, more gentle this time, and she kissed him back, also more gentle. He caressed the side of her face and she tangled her hands in his hair, drawing him in closer to intensify the kiss. Their gazes locked and he saw the fire and the passion in them. He slowly let his hands wander down over her body, not once breaking the gaze, nor the kiss. He cupped her breasts again and felt her sigh into the kiss as he slowly started drawing circles around her nipples. She arched her back into his touch and moans. Finally breaking the kiss, he whispered: "You're beautiful." Then he trailed butterfly kisses over her body, from her collarbone to her shoulders, over her breasts and across her stomach until he reached her most sensitive spot. He was on his knees in front of her.

"Sirius," she gasped as he tauntingly slow flicked his tongue about the little bundles of nerves. He's determined to do it right this time, to give her pleasure as well. It didn't take long before she cried out his name. He pulled her towards him on the floor.

That second time around, they didn't have sex, they made love, and it was so much more intense. When he found his release the second time, it was in unison with hers.

-o0o-

She was lying in his arms, her head resting on his torso. They both had beads of sweat lining their faces. He wished they could lie like this forever, because his arms wrapped around her body felt good. He absentmindedly played with a strand of her hair and kissed the top of her head.

"Marlene?"

"Hmm?"

"What does this mean?" he asked her in a soft tone.

"It means we had sex. Twice," Marlene murmured.

"I know that. Just, what does that mean, for us?"

"I don't know Sirius, I really don't. I like you."

There was a moment's silence and then he realised that the feeling was mutual. It wasn't just physical attraction. He really liked Marlene and he told her so.

Again, there was silence, but it was a comfortable one, like between two people who have known each other for a long time and can appreciate each other's company without the need to put it into words.

She lifted her head. "Well, you're doing a rather fine job at it," she teased.

He let out a short laugh that sounded almost like barking.

"I know. Just… next time, let me be the knight, okay?"

"Who says there will be a next time?"

"There's a war going on and we're fighting in it. There's bound to be a next time," he said, serious now. "I want to be able to protect you Marlene."

"Fine," she gave in. "Next time, you get to be the knight in shining armour and you can come rescue me and sweep me off on your horse."

He knew she was making fun of him and he didn't want to disturb the light atmosphere between them, so he joined in on her joke. "Nah, I think I'm more of a knight on a shiny motorcycle."

She laughed. "Deal. Next time we encounter Death Eaters, you can some save me on your shiny motorcycle." She chuckled. "Really Sirius, you really are something."

"I guess I am," he smiled. "But isn't that why you like me?"

She shook her head, amused, and kissed him. Then she laid her head back down on his shoulder and sighed. No more words were spoken, but there needn't be. And when she slowly starts to drift asleep, he silently conjures a blanket and drapes that over both their bodies. There was a war going on and would have to see where things would take them, but tonight they didn't want to think about that. Tonight they just wanted to lie close to one another, listening to each other's heartbeat. Like nothing else mattered.

A/N: This was also written for my Pairing Diversity Boot Camp with the prompt "butterfly kisses", the Lilybug314's Favourite Era Boot Camp with the prompt "motorcycle" and ToxicRainfall's Favourite Hogwarts House Boot Camp for the house Hufflepuff (in my head-canon Marlene was a Hufflepuff) and the prompt "knight in shining armour".

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